PITTSBURGH, July 15, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following statement was released today by Leo W. Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers (USW), upon confirmation by the U.S. Department of Commerce that the government is proceeding with the union's trade case petition filed Jun. 3 against imports from China of passenger vehicle and light truck tires (PVLT).

Gerard said: "The USW is pleased that the Commerce Department has completed a poll of domestic companies involved in the manufacture of passenger vehicle and light truck tires. That poll verified the union has official legal standing to bring the anti-dumping and countervailing duty petitions in a trade case against PVLT tire imports from China."

He adds, "Both the dumping and subsidy cases are now being initiated by Commerce. The next step in the process of achieving fair trade in passenger vehicle and light truck tires is the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) preliminary injury determination. The commission is scheduled to vote on these trade cases next Tuesday, July 22."

The case alleges massive dumping and substantial government subsidization of sales of these products by China into the U.S. market.

When the USW filed the petition last month, Gerard stated: "Filing trade cases is not something we take lightly. We would prefer that countries live by the rules. But when our union members are injured, the Steelworkers act. We cannot stand idly by while China steals our jobs. Enforcing the rules is a fundamental prerequisite of the trading system, and China's cheating is seriously undermining it."

For a fact sheet on the PVLT tires trade case against imports from China: click here.

The USW represents 850,000 workers in North America employed in many industries that include metals, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining and the service and public sectors. For more information: http://www.usw.org/